Jane Street Group LLC Has $3.34 Million Stock Position in First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC)

Jane Street Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC - Free Report) by 33.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 132,474 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 33,390 shares during the quarter. Jane Street Group LLC owned approximately 0.14% of First Financial Bancorp. worth $3,342,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 1.8% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 26,617 shares of the bank's stock worth $591,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. Souders Financial Advisors raised its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Souders Financial Advisors now owns 72,038 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,818,000 after purchasing an additional 617 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,525 shares of the bank's stock valued at $316,000 after buying an additional 618 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 23.1% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,340 shares of the bank's stock valued at $75,000 after buying an additional 627 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 1.9% in the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 48,000 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,067,000 after buying an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. 77.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Performance

First Financial Bancorp. stock traded up $0.49 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $27.31. 2,204,302 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 384,265. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $25.46. First Financial Bancorp. has a fifty-two week low of $20.59 and a fifty-two week high of $31.18. The stock has a market cap of $2.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.77 and a beta of 1.01.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $302.82 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $214.00 million. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 18.55% and a return on equity of 10.32%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.67 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Financial Bancorp. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. First Financial Bancorp.'s payout ratio is 41.38%.

Insider Transactions at First Financial Bancorp.

In other First Financial Bancorp. news, insider Richard S. Dennen sold 4,068 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.01, for a total transaction of $122,080.68. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 70,652 shares in the company, valued at $2,120,266.52. This represents a 5.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider James R. Shank sold 3,700 shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.34, for a total transaction of $97,458.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,374 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $404,951.16. The trade was a 19.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 11,700 shares of company stock worth $335,429. Company insiders own 2.04% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on FFBC. Stephens upgraded shares of First Financial Bancorp. from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th.

First Financial Bancorp. Profile

First Financial Bancorp. operates as the bank holding company for First Financial Bank that provides commercial banking and related services to individuals and businesses in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, and Illinois. The company offers checking, savings, and money-market accounts; and accepts various deposit products, such as interest-bearing and non-interest-bearing accounts, time deposits, and cash management services for commercial customers.